


Dance if You Can

by august_anon



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Also brief - Freeform, Dancing, Lee!Roman, Ler!Virgil, M/M, Ticklee Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Tickler Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Tickling, ticklish!roman, ticklish!virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23757814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/august_anon/pseuds/august_anon
Summary: Roman held the unofficial title of “Best Dancer” whenever their friend group played Just Dance. Virgil, the new addition, was about to show him how it’s done, but Roman was nothing if not competitive.Warning: This is a tickle fic!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	Dance if You Can

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a headcanon/bullet fic I did in the discord a few months ago that Pineapple prompted. She also told me to post this one today lol. Hope y’all like it!

In the end, it was Patton’s idea.

While he, Roman, and Logan had been friends for what felt like for _ever_ , Virgil was a very new addition to their little group of friends. They all wanted to make him feel welcome (and Roman may have had other motives to do so, as well, but he wasn’t going to admit it), and thus Patton suggested a sleepover to really make him feel like his place in the group was solidified.

Logan, knowing his house was usually the favorite for such get-togethers, asked his parents and, as always, received a resounding “yes” (they loved Logan’s friends and the fact that Logan _had_ friends). They shipped all of Logan’s siblings off to their own sleepovers for the weekend and told the boys to be as loud as they wanted, and that they wouldn’t be interfering unless they were needed.

Yeah, Roman thought, Logan’s parents tried a little too hard to be cool, but he loved them to pieces, and he had no anxiety over whether or not they loved him back (or Patton, or their own _son_ ).

But the reason Logan’s house was the favorite was the _video games_.

Logan grew up in a family of gamers. His father was a huge gamer even before he and Logan’s mom had kids, and he must’ve just passed the gaming gene down to then. The family owned every gaming system Roman could even hope for, and _more_ (seriously, who even _had_ a gamecube, anymore? Roman had forgotten they even _existed_ ) and every game they could want for any one of them.

But the sleepover was in full swing and Virgil was starting to adjust to the setting, so Roman decided it was time to show off a little and declared a _dance battle_.

Logan rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but he set it up anyway. He slid the _Just Dance_ disk into the old, wheezing Xbox 360, because he knew Roman preferred the Kinect version as opposed to having to hold a remote.

They all take turns competing against each other, making fools of themselves and laughing at their pitiful scores. Well, everyone except Roman and Virgil. Roman’s scores were absolutely _killing_ it, and he was entirely not shy about showing off. Meanwhile, Virgil seemed to be content just laughing at them instead of participating.

Well, that just wouldn’t do. Luckily, Roman had a solution.

The thing about Virgil and his budding friendship (and Roman’s budding totally-not-a-crush) was that they were _very_ good at riling each other up. Whether it be play arguments, convincing one or the other to do a dare, or pushing a challenge that the other was too competitive to say no to, they always managed to get under each other’s skin in just the perfect way.

And one playful and teasing argument led to another thing, and suddenly Virgil was standing from the sofa and tossing off his hoodie (his _hoodie_ ! He had _never_ taken it off in front of them! Roman had assumed it was a comfort thing and hadn’t pushed, but now he had a _body shape_ and _oh no_ , as if he wasn’t already smitten enough--) so that he can finally dance-battle Roman.

And Roman goes into the battle cocky and smirking. Patton and Logan had _never_ been able to beat him at dance games, no matter what system it was. He was the declared dance champ of their little group.

But Virgil was _good_.

He was matching Roman move for move, eyes locked on the screen intently. Roman’s competitive nature finally got him to stop being distracted by the sight of _Virgil dancing next to him without his hoodie_ , but even then, he couldn’t beat him. In fact, as Virgil started to pick up the nuances of the game more and more, he actually _beat_ Roman.

There was silence.

“Woah…” Patton whispered.

Roman whirled and pointed an accusing finger into Virgil’s chest. “Absolutely not! It was a fluke, I was going easy on you for your first time playing. I demand a rematch!”

Virgil smirked at him. “Do I smell a sore loser?”

“No! Just -- get into your section!”

Virgil didn’t seem convinced, but he did as Roman commanded. And they danced to another song, Roman putting his all into it, but Virgil was _still_ beating him! And Roman hated to admit it, but he was a little frustrated about that fact.

He didn’t mean to be a sore loser! He just wanted to show off, impress Virgil. Maybe tease him a little (kindly, playfully, maybe _slightly_ flirtatiously) about being the better dancer, but now Virgil was using Roman’s own game against him!

After their third dance, Roman stepped back, panting and maybe sweating a little. Virgil. Infuriatingly, only seemed a little out of breath.

“You haven’t _won_ ,” Roman added, once again pointing his accusing finger, “I just need a minute.” He turned to the sofa behind them. “Logan! Fight in my stead! Weaken the enemy!”

Logan stood with a sigh as Patton giggled, probably both knowing Roman wouldn’t let up until he listened. “Why don’t we just combine all our scores against Virgil’s combined scores?” He suggested.

Patton immediately nodded and Virgil shrugged. Roman thought about it for a moment. It _was_ 1am, and they _were_ all pretty wiped from school and the unexpected workout of _Just Dance_ . So Roman agreed. Three against one was hardly fair, but he wanted to _win_ , dangit!

So he stepped back and let Logan take a dance. Logan, as always, wasn’t amazing, but he did well enough to not fail. His movements were robotic and somewhat uncomfortable, seeing as the nerd didn’t really dance otherwise, but he did better than Patton.

Then Patton took a turn against the new rising champion. He, as always, did abysmally, but none of them ever minded. He was more in it for the fun of the game, rather than the competition, and would often purposefully mess up the move to make them all laugh and let loose, seeing as Logan was often one to get lost in the competition as well. His score barely made a dent in their efforts to beat Virgil, but no one really minded when he smiled that smile at them.

And then it was Roman’s turn, again. His scores were up to their usual best again, now that he’d taken a breather and cooled off, but Virgil’s scores were _still_ beating his, by an _unfairly_ large margin. In his frustration, Roman slipped out of his own area a little on accident and, on one of the more dramatic moves, accidentally slipped his hand against Virgil’s upper ribs/armpit area.

Virgil flinched away and Roman heard a quick intake of breath. Then, Virgil quickly readjusted himself and continued beating Roman at this _stupid_ dancing game. It didn’t matter, though. Roman had his plan, now.

It was easy for Roman to recognize that reaction for what it was. He had siblings, Patton and Logan had siblings that were basically siblings to him, and Patton and Logan themselves were like brothers to Roman. None of them were strangers to tickle fights.

Roman fought down a smirk. Just yet another thing their little group would introduce him to, tonight.

It was Logan’s turn again, next, and Roman sat back for a few minutes before enacting his plan. He waited until the first chorus to strike, waiting until a dance move where their arms are high in the air. He quickly spidered his fingers up Virgil’s ribs and into his armpits.

Virgil squealed and messed up, jerking his arms down a couple beats too soon and not completing the move. He lost a few points, and he turned to glare at Roman as best he could while still dancing, keeping the moves in his peripheral so he could copy them.

“What?” Roman asked, far too innocently. “I’m just making the competition a little more _interesting_ . Surely a little tickling won’t make you _lose_ , will it?”

And Roman couldn’t quite tell through dimmed lights of the gaming room, but he could’ve _sworn_ Virgil went a little pink in the face, at that. He turned back to the TV screen too fast for Roman to fully tell.

“Just adding a little _challenge_ , Virge.” Roman practically purred in his ear.

Now that did it. Virgil was just as competitive as Roman and Logan were. Just like how Roman had gotten him to agree to the dance battle in the first place, Roman had roped him into another challenge _easily_.

Roman dismissed the thought that he could probably be challenged into things like this just as easily, as well.

“Please,” Virgil scoffed, somehow even still keeping up with the moves on screen. “Like a little t-ti- _tickling_ is gonna make me lose, Princey.”

Roman grinned. His plan had worked _perfectly_ so far. Now all he had to do was tickle Virgil bad enough for him to lose.

“Oh? You _don’t_ mind, then?” Roman asked.

Virgil didn’t reply, he just kept on dancing. But even through the lighting, though, Roman could tell that those pale ears had gone _bright_ red. Roman kept his place behind Virgil and moved with him to the dances (because it _would_ be cheating to physically impede him with something other than tickling, and Roman wanted to win fairly.. Well, as fairly as he could, _now_ ).

Roman resumed his spidering, this time on Virgil’s ribs and sides, while moving to the dance with him. Virgil’s shoulders shook a little with suppressed laughter, but he still kept up with the dance pretty well. _Unfairly_ well. Aside from little jerks and squirms that weren’t really exaggerated enough to affect his score, Virgil had no issues keeping up.

Roman moved down to his legs briefly in hopes of breaking him, squeezing his thighs and kneecaps. He even skittered his nails and fingers at the backs of Virgil’s knees, or, at least, as well as he could with Virgil’s skinny jeans in the way (which, Virgil still had quite the reaction even then, which Roman would have to experiment more with when those knees _weren’t_ protected).

Virgil’s giggles came deep from his chest, barely audible over the game, and he was still trying his best to hold them in by pressing his lips together tightly. But he also almost kicked Roman multiple times, and almost toppled over, so Roman decided the legs were a little dangerous for now and moved back up.

Before he could start on Virgil’s upper body again, Logan’s dance finished and it was Patton’s turn to step up once more. Virgil was panting the whole time, as they switched spots and began to look for their next song. Roman’s not so cruel as to not give him a break between dances. 

Since the new challenge started, Logan and Patton hadn’t said anything about it. That didn’t mean they weren’t _clearly_ paying attention, though, shooting each other and Roman sly looks over the whole thing. Roman, frankly, was just happy they weren’t doing it where Virgil could see and decipher them.

He also kind of wanted to tell them to mind their own business, leave Roman’s weird flirting ritual alone, but there was no way he was saying that in front of Virgil. He didn’t want Virgil to _know_ he was flirting, or _know_ that Roman liked him. So Roman didn’t say anything. He just sent them both scathing glares before the next song started up.

And then the music started and Roman dove right in without warning or build-up. He squeezed up and down Virgil’s sides, then switched to kneading at his hips, then back to his sides and repeated the pattern. Virgil must have been pretty caught off-guard by the sudden attack, because he burst into loud laughter. But he _still kept dancing_.

Granted, his movements were far less smooth than before, and his laughter was starting to mess up some of his motions. He still did pretty well at not squirming, though, or stopping his dance to grab at Roman’s hands and defend himself.

But Roman was determined to win this, fair or not, now.

He reached around Virgil and claws into his stomach with both hands. Based on the way Virgil cried out and stumbled backward into Roman’s chest before catching himself and continuing trying to dance, Roman was pretty certain this was Virgil’s worst spot.

His laughter was the loudest sound any of them had ever heard Virgil make, and he was barely able to keep his eyes on the screen anymore. His dancing was, while nowhere near as bad as Patton, truly beginning to get terrible, now, and he was losing points fast. 

Roman glanced up and realized with a pout that the song was coming to an end. He figured he might as well go out with a bang, whether or not he managed to win, even if he had no clue if this little trick he was about to pull would work.

Roman stuck a finger deep into Virgil’s bellybutton and scratched at the inner walls, wiggling deep into the little divot. Virgil actually _screamed_ before falling into hysterical cackling and going completely limp as the song ended.

Roman, for his part, was _not_ expecting Virgil to suddenly ragdoll. With him being unprepared to catch the extra weight, Virgil managed to drag them both to the ground, where they landed in a giggly heap of tangled limbs (giggles courtesy of Virgil).

And then they looked up and--

Virgil’s _terrible_ score from that last round _still_ managed to beat Patton’s.

A series of offended noises escaped from Roman’s vocal chords, and Virgil’s residual giggles turned into victorious laughter as he watched the screen flash in front of them. He started poking at Roman’s sides with a smug, open grin.

“I still won!” He all but crowed. “I still won, and you all _lost_! Take that, Roman!”

Roman jerked away from each ticklish little poke and he couldn’t stop himself from blushing. Virgil was tangled up with him, practically on _top_ of him, and he was happy and flustered and yet he felt kind of like a sore loser at the same time.

So to save face, Roman growled, “I’ll show _you_ … taking that!”

Virgil started to laugh at Roman’s terrible comeback, and he started to make some sassy comment about how it didn’t make sense, but Roman didn’t let him get that far. He shoved Virgil’s shirt up and blew raspberry after raspberry around Virgil’s sides and against his stomach.

Virgil was shrieking and cackling and yelling, trying desperately to escape the little knot they got themselves into, but Roman wasn’t letting him get away that easily. He tightly wrapped all his limbs around Virgil so there was no hope of escape.

(Unbeknownst to them, all other sound lost to Virgil’s shrieking cackles, Logan sighed heavily. He shared a knowing half-smile with Patton as they made their way out of the room to give the two pining idiots some privacy and went off to get ready for bed.)

Eventually, Virgil managed to get a hand free. He shoved it up under Roman’s arm before Roman had a chance to defend himself.

The raspberries stopped suddenly as _Roman_ broke into shrieking cackles and tried to wrench himself away on instinct, leaving them both lying on the floor a few feet away from each other.

Virgil was panting and still giggling, but he gave Roman a true grin and said, “You’re an idiot, Roman Prince.”

Roman tried to put on a suave face and rolled back over toward Virgil, planting a hand on either side of his head against the floor to loom over him. “You have an adorable laugh,” he murmured.

Roman could just barely make out Virgil’s blush through the low light, but he relished in it. He leaned in close to whisper in Virgil’s ear.

“And don’t think I didn’t notice that you never protested or said ‘no,’” he purred.

Roman could feel Virgil’s face flaming against his own and smirked victoriously. He pulled back somewhat to let Virgil see.

“Oh yeah?” Virgil muttered, and shoved both hands up under Roman’s armpits without warning.

Roman’s arms immediately gave out from under him as they instinctively drew in to protect himself and he collapsed forward onto Virgil’s chest. Virgil used that to his advantage and wrapped himself around Roman like an octopus, trapping him in a tight hug and wrapping his legs around him to hold him still.

He blew raspberries on Roman’s neck, squeezed and scratched at his sides, forced his fingers past Roman’s arms and back into his armpits (clearly having figured out Roman’s worst spot rather quickly). And then he let Roman go. Roman stayed draped across Virgil’s chest, panting and still giggling, relaxed now that he was all tickled out.

“You never said ‘no,’ either,” Virgil whispered smugly.

Roman tried to quell his embarrassment, play it off by muttering, “Guess we match,” into Virgil’s shirt.

And then, Roman wasn’t entirely certain who started it, they were kissing, right there on the floor of the gaming room in Logan’s house.

And when they pulled back, Virgil gave him a teasing grin. “You sure have a real weird way of flirting, Ro.”

Roman sputtered for a moment, but he was smiling, too. “Shut up,” he eventually managed, “or I’ll tickle you again.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Maybe another time, I want to go to sleep.”

Roman leaned in, his grin taking on a mischievous edge. “Another time, huh?”

Virgil blushed again and shoved his face away, but he was chuckling along with Roman.

They pulled each other up and got ready for bed, joining the others in Logan’s room and cuddling until they fell asleep. And if someone wound up waking someone else with tickles… well, that was nobody’s business but their own.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey, thanks for reading! Hope y'all enjoyed! Feel free to leave me a comment or kudos, and as always, you can find me on tumblr at august-anon!


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